D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] No UMD mishaps?

[Lord Pendragon]

From the SRD, under Use Magic Device:

Try Again: Yes, but if you ever roll a natural 1 while attempting to activate an item and you fail, then you can’t try to activate that item again for 24 hours.

Aside from this, the only mention of a mishap is if you are trying to Activate Blindly and fail the check by 9+ points.

So have they done away with UMD mishaps for scrolls/wands altogether, provided you have properly Identified the scroll/wand in question? It seems to be saying that I could have 1 rank in UMD, roll a 1 while trying to activate a scroll of Wish and, so long as I wasn't trying to Activate Blindly, the only penalty would be the inability to try to activate it again for 24 hours.

Is this correct? If so, I'm going to have to rethink my entire approach to UMD...

 

[Deset Gled]

IIRC, mishaps can occur when attempting to activate a scroll/wand/etc that requires a caster level higher than the person trying to use it. When using UMD, caster level is determined by the skill check. Thus, if a roll is too low for a given item, using it can still result in a mishap.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

IIRC, mishaps can occur when attempting to activate a scroll/wand/etc that requires a caster level higher than the person trying to use it. When using UMD, caster level is determined by the skill check. Thus, if a roll is too low for a given item, using it can still result in a mishap.

Yes. This is how it was in 3.0. However the entire passage (caster level, mishaps) is missing from the 3.5 SRD. Does anyone have a 3.5 PH handy to check the description of UMD?

It would certainly make UMD more attractive if this is indeed an intentional change. I never took UMD as a rogue (up to 12th level) because it seemed too risky, especially at less than 10th level. Removing Mishaps would make the skill attractive even at low levels.

 

[Deset Gled]

Yes. This is how it was in 3.0. However the entire passage (caster level, mishaps) is missing from the 3.5 SRD. Does anyone have a 3.5 PH handy to check the description of UMD?

In the 3.5 SRD, mishaps are covered in the "Magic Items IV" section.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

In the 3.5 SRD, mishaps are covered in the "Magic Items IV" section.

Yes, I'm aware of that. But in the 3.5 SRD, under the description of the skill Use Magic Device, there's no mention of possibly causing mishaps. No mention of the UMD user having a virtual caster level, etc.

And the part of the SRD you quoted also makes no mention of UMD, or virtual caster levels.

 

[James McMurray]

In 3.5 you can't have a UMD mishap on scrolls because you don't get an emulated caster level. The DC is simply the caster level of the scroll. If you don't reach the DC, you don't pass the check, and don't activate the scroll.

I imagine they removed it for simplicity's sake, but it wouldn't be a bad 3.5 change to revoke if a DM was so inclined.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

In 3.5 you can't have a UMD mishap on scrolls because you don't get an emulated caster level. The DC is simply the caster level of the scroll. If you don't reach the DC, you don't pass the check, and don't activate the scroll.

I imagine they removed it for simplicity's sake, but it wouldn't be a bad 3.5 change to revoke if a DM was so inclined.

I love this change! It makes UMD something to take at low levels. As I said before, in 3.0 I couldn't see taking it until 10th+ level.

I have a 6th-level bard who is going to have to start putting points into it.

 

[pawsplay]

There's no "virtual caster level" anymore, but what UMD says is that you may cast it ass though it were on your list. Presumably, it also provides you the caster level to do so. My ruling would be that it replaces the caster level check to use the scroll, but does not excuse you from mishaps if you fail to activate it correctly.

 

[James McMurray]

Except that you can't "fail to activate it correctly." The DC is 20 + caster level. If you miss that DC you fail completely, not just partially.